"I was rather astonished at the speed with which the project came together."
I've sat down to write a report on my test drive in the Hyper PRO Racer, to tell you about what an exhilarating experience it was, how the car felt like an extension of my body, and how it compared to the last V8 Supercar, Formula-3, or 250 International I drove. Problem is, I've never driven any of those vehicles. Matter of fact, my entire motor-racing experience is limited to sprint karting, so I don't feel entirely qualified to comment on the behaviour of the car, on a track I was learning as I was learning the car.
Which is not to say that I don't have a point of view, and a valid one at that, but we'll get there. Firstly, I thought I might shed some light on a subject I do feel qualified to discuss - that being the story of the evolution of this unique new vehicle, and the people that built it.
The Hyper PRO Racer is the child of Jon and Dean Crooke, a father/son operation in Melbourne's far eastern suburbs. The concept was born in Jon's mind some 20 years ago, and one presumes it's been simmering in his head at varying temperatures ever since. Jon's concept was pretty simple : build an open wheel race-car that a normal person could afford. Jon probably isn't the first person to consider the possibility of combining the words "affordable" and "motorsport" in the same sentence, lord knows the karting industry has been trying to sell that phrase for at least 30 years. Jon is a little different, however, in that he personally sacrificed quite a lot at the altar of motorsport, and in penance has had to deal with the "affordability" (or otherwise) of his passion ever since.
Jon sacrificed a house and a business to put himself in a position to win the 1986 Australian Formula 2 title. Fortunately his sacrifice was not in vain, and win he did, but it would not be unfair to say that his life has taken a different, potentially less prosperous course as a result of his passion. Indeed, the fact that he managed to keep his lovely wife Margot speaks volumes for her patience, and perhaps of the excitement and energy that Jon creates.
Jon, it's worth noting, is not the quiet type. Highly opinionated, you could say. It's not usually long after you meet him for the first time that you get a strong sense of the things (cars, race series, circuits, drivers, anything) he thinks are "right", and the things he thinks are "wrong". Receiving praise from Jon for any endeavour in motorsport is indeed an honour rarely bestowed. On the other hand, attempting to convince Jon of the errors of his ways where your opinions differ is a futile path to tread, for this is a man with strength in his convictions, a man who's passion for motorsport is stronger than any other person you've met, and a man with some truly revolutionary ideas.
For many years, Jon's problem was that his revolutionary ideas had no outlet because while a veritable fountain of concepts, ideas, and sketches - Jon is not an engineer or fabricator. Already, we've touched on the fact that Jon has not the funding to simply pay a company to build his dream, so he had to wait patiently while his son Dean grew into an engineer of the highest order. (Did Jon have this plan in mind when guiding his son through his early life? I wouldn't rule it out!).
Fortunately for Jon, Dean did exactly that. In fact, Dean's skills with metal are now of a level rarely found, and there truly isn't much that Dean couldn't build. I have been lucky enough to work with Dean for a number of years and can speak from copious personal experience when I say that this is a man of incredible talents. Bred with a temperament closer to his mother, but with natural abilities like his father, Dean is an expert fabricator, skilled machinist, lateral thinker, and bloody awesome driver.
Combine the pair of them and you have a formidable team. With Dean's skills completing Jon's concept, the Hyper Racer, could finally become a reality. I was lucky enough to witness its growth, from sketch-on-paper to steel reality, and must admit that I was rather astonished at the speed with which the project came together. Jon and Dean's ideas seemed initially to have been broad brushstrokes, but as the vehicle started taking shape it became obvious that the ideas in their heads were much more refined than I had realised. Each time a challenge looked to be approaching, they were armed with the solution.
The entire car was designed in 3D CAD, then built in their suburban workshop. Very little material was turned into scrap, and the construction process was a pretty seamless operation. With the first drives approaching, there had been barely a hiccup. I must admit, I was very surprised!
When the engine and chassis were married, the first tentative steps in the Hyper were made in an industrial carpark. Dean eased the clutch out, carefully listening to the car with ears and hands, to ensure that everything was operating as it should. Within 15 minutes, he was performing third gear powerslides on the rev limiter as he roared past. At that moment, I knew my friendship with Dean was about to pay dividends! Of course, blasting around in a carpark is fun, but this machine is not a toy. It's a racecar, and racecars are not at home until they are on a race track, so our story takes us to Winton, on a sunny Spring afternoon.
It's like a kinder-surprise chocolate egg!
Again let me say, I'm a go karter, not an experienced race car driver. I'm pretty handy in a kart, but until this day I had never driven on a full sized circuit in anything, let alone a truly unique, one-of-a-kind open wheeled racecar! Setting up in the pits, you certainly turn heads. We roll up in an unmarked white van. Short wheelbase, low roof. Nothing extravagant, that's for sure. Most onlookers assume we're going to unload a single bike, because surely that's all you could fit into that little van, isn't it?
Wrong! Racecar! It's like a kinder-surprise chocolate egg! Guys around us cannot believe it when the three of us lift a genuine open-wheeler out of the back door.
I'm starting to get wobbly with excitement as I help Jon strap Dean into the car with the six-point harness, and send him out for session one.
It sounds very throaty through the huge chrome pipe at the rear as Dean eases out of the pits, then opens up into a pretty hearty roar as he stands on the throttle entering the circuit just after turn two. As he snakes his way around the Winton long-track, I must admit the car sounds... weird. You don't expect to hear an open-wheeler emitting a deep, low growl. The look of the car suggests you'll get a screaming whine from a multi-cylinder as it whizzes past, but remember that this is a 450cc single cylinder engine lifted from Yamaha's dirt-bike inventory, so the sound you get is not at all what you expect. From in the car, I discover later, it sounds like someone hog tied a lion and gaffa taped it to your back, but from pit wall it's a surprise.
That said, it's clear the thing has grip. Through the left-right turns one and two at Winton, the car looks nimble. In fact, it looks like you could just drive it straight through with the throttle wide open, but of course everything looks easy when someone skilful is doing it!
Once Dean's done a session, Jon is up next. The two of them are here for a day of fun, to enjoy their creation after a couple of months of running test-sessions for potential customers, so they're rewarding themselves with a day to themselves (and me, 'cause I'm special!). We strap Jon down into the car, and Dean offers a few pointers to his old man. It seems a little funny to me to hear the apprentice schooling the master, but it soon becomes clear who the master actually is. Jon heads out for his session. In his day, he was one of Australia's greats. Back on the simulators, he can rip a pretty good laptime. However, time waits for no man and, with almost six decades under his belt, Jon is not quite the driver he used to be. On a good day, his times are about half a second off Dean's, though the car still looks plenty fast, and he's catching and passing everything else on the track - including a Lamborghini Diablo.
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It strikes me that perhaps if that was all a potential customer wanted to do, the Hyper is a success. Here's something that, costing less than a family shopping trolley, is happily trouncing a $600,000 supercar on a race track. You could buy the Hyper for about what it would cost you to replace the front bumper on the Lambo. And it goes FASTER?
Jon spins it. He slides off the outside of turn 8, and collects a pretty sizeable puddle out in the grass as well! I savour the moment. I can't wait to hang shit on him for that later.With very little brake pedal pressure, the car just destroys the momentum.The next session rolls around, and I'm suited up. I'm incredibly nervous. Dean and Jon spent hundreds (thousands?) of hours building this thing by hand, and I'm about to drive it at 180km/h past concrete walls. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a good idea.
I climb up and over the rollbar and slide into the cockpit. The steering wheel suggests I'm about to flick on the afterburners and launch off the back of an aircraft carrier on the Pacific Ocean, but it turns out I'm still surrounded by central Victorian farmland. Jon leans into the cockpit and starts rummaging around my suit. I feel a bit like you do at the doctor when he's inspecting something embarrassing. A little bit... invaded. Eventually, Jon finds all six points of the harness and wraps them around my various appendages. As he tightens the centre buckle, I feel my lungs compress and my voice rise an octave or two. Wow. Tight.
"Trust me Col, you'll thank me later," says Jon as he gives the buckle one last tweak.
Dean leans in.
"Col, until you get used to it, the rear can be pretty unforgiving under power. When she goes... well, she goes."
"I'll take it easy," I say.
"Nah, you'll spin it."
Well, thanks for filling me with confidence.
I snick the lever into first. I've watched a lot of blokes stall this thing on their first attempt at taking off. Racecars aren't designed to ease away from the traffic lights, but I'm pretty confident I'll get it right. Revs up a bit, start to release th... clunk.
Woops!
Right. Start button. More revs, start to release the clutch lever (by hand). Success! We're off! Right then, down towards pit exit, turning left. Okay, I'm heading onto the track, another head check, check the mirrors again... clear.
Gun it.
Brrraaaaaaaaaaaap!
I hear Dean's voice in my head. "When you want to change gear, punch it, don't push it."
Bang. Into second. Wide open throttle. Bang. Third. This thing is nuts! Hang on, I don't know this track very well, where's turn three? Okay, here it comes, I'll start to pull up pretty early by stepping on this peda... WHOOOOOAAAA Battleship Missouri! The car has come to an almost complete halt. If there was anyone within 200 metres of my back bumper then I would have been wiped out completely. These. Brakes. Are. In. Sane.
I get back on the throttle and sheepishly continue (two gears too high). The revs pick up a bit and we're back into the power as I head towards the sweeper. Through there no problems, then snaking through the back of the circuit I'm enjoying whacking the gears up and down. You don't do that in karts, see, so it's a bit of a novelty. I round the sharp left hander and look down the long straight up to the far end of the circuit. It's speed time.
I mash the go pedal and start ripping through the gears. I know the brakes are going to pull me up so I'm not worried about the other end! The car is fast. Not dragster fast, but fast. Seems very stable too, so its all systems go. I'm still on my outlap, remember, so I brake with plenty of time to spare and with VERY little pedal pressure. Still the car just destroys the momentum and I'm crawling as I take the right hander. Look for the second apex, got it, past the ripple, and onto the main straight.
Brrrrraaaaaaap!
I can't explain the joy of blasting out of a corner in this thing. You'll have to try that yourself.
I get all the way into top gear and I'm gaining speed all the way when I hit "the bump" towards the end of the main straight. Dean never told me about that one. Whack! The car only has about 15mm of suspension travel, and I'm pretty sure I've just used it all. Truth be told, I could easily have shit myself for real right there and then, because I had no idea it was about to happen. To the car's credit, mind you, I'm still travelling in a straight line, and before too long I've gotta stop worrying about it because it's time to turn into the flip-flop. I recall watching Dean blast through here earlier that day, and imagine that I must look almost that awesome. The spectators on the fence swivel their heads as I rocket past.
I get a few laps under my belt, and start to turn the wick up a bit. I'm pretty keen to demonstrate to Jon that I can drive a car like I can a kart - as I said, praise from Jon is high praise indeed! I'm braking later, throttling earlier, shifting higher, smiling bigger...
Then I spin it. Shit!
Same corner as Jon, the left hander round the tree. Too much power too early, and the tail says "bye bye". I loop the thing completely and end up on the inside of the corner. By the time I've restarted and gotten back on the track, the session is basically over and I roll into the pits.
"How did you go?" the proud parents ask.
I loved it. It was exhilarating, exciting, and... I realise something. Totally safe. I hadn't bothered to consider this until now, but suddenly it hits me. I've been driving at extremely high speeds in a car my mates built in their shed, effectively. Yet, I never once considered that I could possibly be in any danger at all. The rollcage, harness, and quality of the design were such that safety seemed to be a moot point. I think this is well worth highlighting because safety in motor racing is of critical importance. It wasn't so long before my test drive that Lucas Dumbrell had his Formula Ford crash (and paid a heavy price), so the fact that safety hadn't even crossed my mind is a testament to the design of the car.
Over the course of the rest of the day, I managed to get a few more laps in and came to grips with the car a bit more. The more laps I did, the more I felt like the car was communicating with me in a way that karts do, and the more comfortable I felt holding the outside rear tyre on the limit of adhesion. I never got used to the braking, which is literally so phenomenal that in many cases you're actually well on the way into the corner before hitting the pedal! I tend to be a "brake-in-a-straight-line-then-turn" type of guy in a kart, so I needed more time to adapt.
By the end of the day, I too was blowing the doors off extremely expensive street cars, in an affordable little purpose-built open wheeler worth less than a tenth of the cars I was passing. I'd say that makes the Hyper PRO Racer a success. Imagining 20 or 30 of these things battling it out in a series of their own is a spine-tingling thought.
I'm saving up.
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